POOR PREPARATION OF CLIENTS IS one of the most common weaknesses in coaching programmes. It is usually the most costly too, especially when it results in a poor match.
My own research in 2005 indicated that nearly 80 per cent of coaching clients were ill-prepared for their first coaching experience. Nowadays, a handful of organisations do a great job but in much of my work as an executive coach, I see little or no preparation – in organisations of all sizes.
In today’s climate, maximising return on investment (ROI) is a pressing priority. Where clients are unprepared there are several likely results:

• Coaches spend valuable, often chargeable, time preparing the client.
• Clients come to coaching with at best a degree of uncertainty and at worst suspicion.
• Some coaches, well briefed by the organisation, find that the client has not had the same information. This creates an undesirable “messenger” role for the coach.

The constraint is time and resources. However, under-investment is a false economy. Here are some important steps you can take to help your clients get the most from coaching.

1 Define coaching

Coaching is still undefined for many. This often creates unrealistic expectations for the client.

Make it work

• Create an agreed description of coaching for everyone to use.
• Link coaching to organisational values and goals.
• Spend time explaining how coaching differs from mentoring, consulting and counselling.

Fatal flaws

• Assuming an understanding of coaching, especially with senior leaders.
• Leaving it to individual coaches.
• Having inconsistent internal messaging about coaching.

2 Decide purpose and objectives

The need for clarity is dependent on the seniority of the individual. However, without clear objectives many clients will suspect some form of a remedial objective. The question, “Why am I here?” quickly becomes a barrier.

Make it work

• Be clear and transparent about the purpose of coaching.
• Involve the line manager in agreeing objectives.
• Encourage personal as well as organisation goals.

Fatal flaws

• Excluding line managers from the process.
• Leaving juniors to set their agendas.
• Having the same approach for top executives and junior managers.

3 Personal readiness

There are two potential problems here: timing and mindset.
Coaching programmes are often triggered by events such as a development programme or a promotion. While this makes sense, personal circumstances and workload can create challenges for clients. Address this early on or it may become a block to engagement and learning.
The mindset of an individual is critical. An open mind, willingness to explore new perspectives and make time for thoughtful self-assessment and reflection will make a big difference to the success of coaching. Someone who is not ready to make this investment is unlikely to get value from coaching.

Make it work

• Check for work or personal conflicts that may get in the way.
• Offer support where appropriate to negate the conflict.
• Do some readiness checking: attitude, openness and so on.
• Defer coaching if there are no obvious solutions or if the conflict is significant.

Fatal flaws

• Missing the signs of disengagement or lip service.
• Failing to take account of personal circumstances.
• Imposing coaching despite client concerns.

4 The coaching relationship

For people who have never been coached, there is great value in spending time preparing them for the coaching relationship. The more senior a leader is, the less feedback he/she receives. Any they do get often lacks substance.

Showing vulnerability or uncertainty can feel quite alien to leaders. Therefore, these elements, which feature in most effective coaching relationships, may feel uncomfortable initially. Preparation results in a quicker and deeper level of trust. It also enables the coach to spend more time on issues that will move the client forward.

Make it work

• Be clear about the uncomfortable moments – and the longer-term gains.
• Share anonymous examples from people who have experienced coaching.
• Emphasise the unique opportunity for total openness – without risk.

Fatal flaws

• Leaving people uncertain of what to expect.
• Portraying coaching as comfortable and cosy.

5 Select a coach

Some simple steps can prepare a client to select the right coach.
An uninformed client usually selects someone with whom they feel safe – often someone similar to themselves.

An informed, prepared client, however, often recognises the value of a coach with a different perspective or background. This can help to make the coaching truly transformational.

Make it work

• Discuss the merits of similarity and difference in a coach.
• Consider the ideal ratio of support and challenge from the coach.
• Encourage clients to reflect on what style will best support their objectives.
• Debrief fully after the selection.

Fatal flaws

• Leaving selection to the individual – especially if it is their first coach.
• Overwhelming them with choices.
• Imposing a coach.

6 Find time for preparation

HR functions are stretched, just like everyone else, so finding time to prepare is challenging, even if the value is clear. But there is a compelling argument for doing so. Simple steps that produce big results include:

• Developing a self-driven preparation tool for individuals before coaching.
• Running preparation workshops for a large number of individuals.
• Creating coaching champions whose role is to brief and prepare people before coaching.

Preparing people for coaching doesn’t have to be costly or time-consuming. It informs a good selection process and allows the coach to focus on what they do best. And this will substantially increase ROI for organisations.

About the author
Caroline Taylor is an expert in client preparation. She runs Talent for Growth, which specialises in leadership development and executive coaching. She has published Get Ready for Coaching, a practical preparation resource for busy leaders and managers.
www.talentforgrowth.co.uk
01189 700769

Insurance policy

As executive coaches in the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Coaching Centre of Excellence, Maria Symeon and I are used to working with highly intelligent, demanding specialists.

So when we started working four years ago with the professional services firm’s actuarial practice, Actuarial and Insurance Management Solutions (AIMS), one of the largest actuarial consultancies in the UK, we weren’t surprised to discover it was home to some of the most intellectually and technically brilliant experts in the business. It is, however, an inescapable fact of organisational life that technical brilliance alone is insufficient to promote business success or career progression.

AIMS has more than 200 UK-based specialists and has doubled in size over the past five years. To continue being successful, it needs people who can build lasting and productive client relationships and develop new business. Meanwhile, staff want managers and leaders who can inspire them, provide direction and support them in realising their potential. Meeting these needs is a tall order and requires excellent relational skills to succeed.

Such was the backdrop of the actuarial business leader who invited Maria and me to set up a coaching programme for some of his principal consultants. Intrigued, we began to consult with key partners to further explore the needs of the business and its people.

EI intervention

Despite the partners’ request for a “traditional” programme of one-to-one executive coaching, it seemed to us that there might be other ways of working with this group. There were clearly some shared themes, particularly the need for greater skill and proactivity in developing client relationships and for people to have more effective interactions with other parts of the business and with each other. How better to learn about the process of relationship building than by working in a learning group? This would provide a chance to effect the wider behavioural and culture change needed at team level.

As a shorthand for describing the needs of the group, Maria and I used the term “EI” with each other. We used it in one of our consulting meetings with the partners – whereupon one of them pulled a copy of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence out of his bag, in full agreement!
From this moment of synchrony, we quickly progressed to getting support for designing and delivering a team-based intervention centred on EI, which would build participants’ self and interpersonal awareness and skills to equip them in their roles as client handlers, people managers and developing leaders.

A common purpose

Maria and I had a shared vision for creating a learning team where people would get a deep experience of what it is to work relationally and how to apply that in both the client and internal arenas – a group where people could truly get to know each other and their strengths and learn with and from each other. In a client service business we felt sure this would translate into business success.

To date, we have run the programme four times for 55 participants. The EI programme:

• blends skills development and team development, with team coaching principles and practices at the heart of it;
• brings together a peer group who are normally dispersed over a number of different clients and specialisms with varying lengths of service;
• offers a balance between commonality of experience and need and different perspectives;
• builds participants’ awareness of how they operate within the wider organisational system.

Team coaching: key principles

Working from David Clutterbuck’s definition of a learning team as “a group of people with a common purpose who take active responsibility for developing each other and themselves”, some key principles are:

• The type of relationship Maria and I adopt in relation to the team. Working as team coaches, our aim is to empower the team to manage their own development towards becoming more effective consultants and to create a space where the team can collaborate in seeking understanding of the challenges they are facing, individually and collectively, and work out ways to address them “on the job” with each other’s support. This is what Clutterbuck calls “the development of the team’s collective capability and resourcefulness”.
• The agreement of conscious, purposeful goals directly related to achieving the team’s learning tasks and tasks in the business.
• The creation of the “right” climate, which: provides sufficient psychological safety; allows for high-quality reflection and dialogue; can tolerate “mistakes” and experimentation; encourages the sharing of skills, knowledge and experience; incorporates external learning; and learns from diversity.
• Fulfilling a role that encompasses role-modelling; supporting relationship building and building team cohesion; motivating; educating; enabling knowledge and skills transfer; and working with group dynamics. And gradually, but crucially, making ourselves redundant.

Evaluation and benefits

The programme has been evaluated at the individual, team and business impact levels. We evaluate iteratively, by processing each session, and by reflective questionnaire and discussion at the end of each programme.

We also carried out a business impact evaluation last year, asking partners to identify and quantify, where possible, the changes made and their business impact.

Outcomes range from increased confidence and effectiveness in managing client relationships to better collaboration, openness and the development of a coaching culture in the team. Partners have reported increased effectiveness in commercial orientation, and greater focus on, and increase in, revenue generation.

“EI alumni” have talked of the deep confidence that comes from a new ability to “understand what others are thinking and feeling”, and they have been thrilled at the immediacy of the results. One reported “almost immediate benefits in my interactions with clients” and others spoke of the better quality conversations now heard at team leader meetings.

Brian Purves, leader of the AIMS practice, believes that “the recruitment and retention benefits are invaluable. Actuaries, particularly those with ‘natural’ consulting skills, are a scarce resource and in great demand.

“The EI programme helps us to differentiate ourselves in our clients’ eyes and takes the development of our people far beyond technical areas and into ‘softer skills’ which can be a far ‘harder’ journey”. It’s been hugely rewarding for Maria and me to be part of that journey. K

Reference
D Clutterbuck, Coaching the Team at Work, Nicholas Brealey, 2007

Foundations for success

• The programme is modular (six modules, comprising nine days over 10 months), allowing learning to be internalised, revisited and built on.
• The curriculum balances conceptual learning to underpin understanding and experiential learning to build confidence and put learning into practice. Learning is “three-dimensional”.
• A safe, informal but purposeful environment is created where both experimentation and reflection are encouraged.
• Participants learn with and from each other. They improve their ability to co-consult, to give feedback to each other and to build bonds with each other.
• Time between sessions allows for practice and application and participants report back to the group on progress made.
• Content and process can be adjusted to meet the emerging needs of the group.
• The underlying premise is one of partnership and mutual learning, challenge and enjoyment and a sharing of expertise.

The AIMS EI development journey
The programme begins with a focus on the self-awareness and self-management strands that underpin our work. Following an introduction to the concepts and applications of EI, we help people to:

• assess realistically their strengths and limitations in this area;
• look at the role of feedback in relation to self-awareness;
• clarify key personal objectives; and
• explore personal style and preference at the individual and team level (using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator).

We work on the interpersonal dimension by exploring (through discussion, role-play and work with actors) how people connect with others, how they cultivate rapport and attunement and how others experience them (self and social awareness). This is extended by work on more complex interactions where people are seeking to change a relationship or influence an outcome (social awareness and social skills).

We then apply these skills and attitudes specifically to the consulting context and work experientially using relationship-based consulting models. The remaining sessions focus on applying EI in the context of people’s roles as team and specialism leaders and in relation to coaching. The programme closes with a review and personal action planning session.

The fundamental shifts that participants make tend to be around:

• l understanding the value of EI in the business arena;
• l learning how to turn empathic awareness into a usable intervention and having the confidence to do so; and
• l broadening the way they see themselves in relation to their clients and colleagues, and recognising how they might be of value to them in different or additional ways to that of “professional expert”.

Meeting Three

The coach
Elaine Robinson, senior lecturer, HRM, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University

When I met Rebecca for our third coaching session, we quickly got stuck in. Rebecca came prepared with her homework. We knew that we would be concentrating on the employment of coaching tools. Rebecca had been discovering her “career hot buttons” by completing the John Lees questionnaire. This is an excellent tool that can help in the establishment of priorities.

In some ways this questionnaire is similar to the values elicitation exercise that we carried out together in the second coaching session. This time, however, Rebecca was invited to rate herself on a continuum ranging from “unimportant” to “moderately important” to “very important” for the key areas of financial rewards, influence, expertise, independence, relationships and security.

Other tools that I asked Rebecca to complete were the Quintax personality profile and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I had obtained printed reports which we used in our discussions. All the tools were helpful in building Rebecca’s self-awareness. They also helped us build a picture of her from different angles and to enable an enriched, quality conversation.

Apart from these coaching tools we also started to employ some NLP techniques. In particular, we tried using a timeline. It was important to build on the trust between us in order to allow Rebecca to close her eyes and drift, in her imagination, to the future. I guided her as she literally walked her imaginary line.

This exercise enabled Rebecca to imagine looking back on one of her important achievements and seeing how she got there. Rebecca was then able to look forward and imagine “visually and in full colour”, what a future goal would look and sound like and what steps she could possibly take to get there. The smile on Rebecca’s face suggested she was determined and happy to go there.

Learning/key points

• Employ as many tools as you can
• Keep building the trust and rapport
• Don’t ask leading questions
• Listen, listen, listen

Key coaching question

Using Sir John Whitmore’s ideas of constructive stories, and employing enabling and limiting cognitions, I asked Rebecca the following questions:

• Imagine that it is 10 years in the future. You are looking back on your achievements. What do you see?
• What do you hope to achieve by being concerned about this?
• When have you easily achieved departmental objectives?
• In what situations has this been difficult?

Reflections

Again, I found myself having to take great care not to give Rebecca the answers to these questions or the benefit of my advice. I am aware through my training as a coach that if I really can’t resist the temptation to give advice then I can either seek permission from the client to do so or try to position the advice in the form of a question.

For example: “Have you thought about the benefits of gaining further professional qualifications?”
Again, though, I would berate myself for being too leading with my client. I know I must not impose my own solution on Rebecca. Instead, through skilful questioning she must come to solutions of her own.

I congratulate myself on not having asked her any leading questions (on this occasion at least) but at the same time recognise how easy it is to do so. As a manager I am used to giving a steer and some direction to staff members.

I myself was coached by John Lees (famous for his book How to Get a Job You’ll Love). I was grateful to him for some hints and tips, particularly on self-branding, which I then discussed with Rebecca in this session, in addition to sharing John’s questionnaire with her.

The client
Rebecca Peat, staff development trainer, Centre for Professional Learning and Development, Nottingham Trent University

Elaine and I started the session by reviewing my actions from the last session. My task then had been to complete the questionnaires. Elaine asked me what I thought of them and how useful they had been to me.

The John Lees questionnaire involved me rating myself against statements related to eight different “career anchors”. It confirmed my preference for making all the major parts of my life integrate as a whole, rather than work as separate entities.

We discussed the Quintax personality profile and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instruments I had completed. Again, there were no surprises but the confirmations were reassuring for my self-awareness. Plus, they reminded me of how my personality and approach can have an impact on others.

Elaine took me through an NLP activity to help me focus on the future and think of the steps and timelines that I would need to take to get me there. This involved closing my eyes and taking actual, physical steps to the next imaginary goalpost. The length I walked between these goals signified the length of time I estimated it would take me to achieve them. I was then asked to look back on the goals and describe how I felt, how easily I had achieved them and what the next goal was.

Learning/key points

• Be open to tools and activities – give them a go!
• Coach needs to be open to feedback
• I might need some space away from the office to carry out some of the activities (for example, the NLP imaginary timeline)
• Try using humour – it can break down inhibitions and build trust
• The coach needs to be qualified in administering and interpreting psychometric tests

Reflections

This third session with Elaine was very much an exploration of my personality and preferences in the work area. Although I have completed a few such tools before, I find them beneficial to highlight areas or remind me of certain points. I always find them enjoyable.

This session highlighted what I believe is important to me and also my preferences for my working situation. It also confirmed that I was happy with where I was and where I could take this. In fact, the session marked a shift in my attitude that I could even say to myself, “Where could I take this?”, rather than, “Where is this taking me?”.

I felt a little uncomfortable with the NLP activity to begin with as I had not done anything like this before and closing my eyes while walking down a corridor was something I was certainly not used to! The outcome, however, was that I felt more empowered and in control of the direction that my life could take. This further motivated me to succeed. The hurdles that I faced were hurdles to be overcome, rather than barriers that cannot be broken down.

Volume 4, Issue 2

This was introduced by the US Army in the mid-1970s to learn from simulated battles. Today, it is used by organisations to build learning in the middle or at the end of projects.

The structure asks four questions:

• What did we set out to achieve?
• What actually happened?
• Why did it happen?
• What are we going to do next time?

The aim of these questions is admirable. However, the discussion can turn into a mix of blame and misunderstanding; particularly in the “Why did it happen?” phase. My colleagues and I at sfwork have been experimenting with this framework. We call our latest version the Project Booster.

What were we trying to do from everyone’s perspective? What would have been a 10 out of 10?

Many managers I work with think they can skip over these questions. They are amazed when it turns out not everyone shared their clarity. As a minimum, include the perspectives of everyone present. In addition, bring in views from different stakeholder groups. This will help set the situation in context. Remember, what seemed like an great idea at the start may not seem so now. Nonetheless, that was the objective.

How did we do on a scale of one to 10?

You can break this down into categories if necessary. Indeed, breaking it down into elements can help focus learning, both on areas that did and didn’t go well. Involve those who were present in the discussion of the categories.

Of course, you can expect justification, finger-pointing and analysis of what went wrong. Do not go down these routes. The key thing to remember is that the actual numbers don’t really matter. They are a conversational device, designed to lead into the next phase.

How come it’s that high? What else?

Prepare for blank faces when you ask this. We’re only here to learn about what not to do the next time. Right?

Wrong. The learning lies in what to do next time. Be patient. You must stick with this line of enquiry for a while.

Get as long a list as you can in each area. At this point the group often shifts towards optimism.
Of course, people will be tempted to mention things that should not be repeated in the future. That’s fine. Note them down and add them to the discussion at the fourth phase.

What do we need to remember for next time? How could we let other people know?

Having had the previous discussions, this phase usually falls into place quickly. In fact, the answers will be quite clear from what’s already been said in steps 2 and 3. “What do we need to remember for next time?” is a useful phrase. It includes things to keep doing, to do more of, and even things to avoid (as long as they are phrased in this way: “so, to avoid this, what we need to remember to do is…”).

We’ve included the question: “How could we let other people know?” as it gives the action junkies something to do right away (and therefore keeps them interested). Everyone else can be content to take the learning and use it at the appropriate time and place.

My thanks to Trevor Durnford for his work on using and developing the Project Booster in action.

Mike McKergow is director of sfwork, the Centre for Solutions Focus at Work and co-author of several books on solution-focused practice including The Solutions Focus (Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2007). mark@sfwork.com www.sfwork.com

Volume 4, Issue 2

But the problem is not the coaching. Rather, they have not been targeting who and when to coach. Coach training often fails to explain that coaching is only one answer to performance issues; one that works when applied to the right situation and individual. Managers need to recognise when and who to coach, and when not to coach.

Valuing the process

The case for performance coaching by line managers is supported by its link to the performance management cycle.

When a manager does not see the performance increase they had hoped for from coaching, inevitably they start to question the value of the process. They fail to see that the success of coaching largely rests on the client, including:

• the motivation to want to develop;
• the confidence to take on a performance stretch;
• the resources to come up with the answer – and act on it;
• valuing external support.

These conditions will not exist in every member of a manager’s team. The manager may have a team member who:

• shows little interest in development;
• stays in their comfort zone, even though the manager believes they could do more;
• has little experience in coming up with their own solutions;
• is experienced so rarely seeks out the manager’s support.

Managers need to recognise where coaching is best placed, rather than coaching everyone. They should consider two factors in a direct report’s behaviour: their skill level and their motivation/confidence level. By separating out those two elements it is then possible to recognise different needs at different stages.

Who not to coach

• New team members are often seen as a natural target for coaching, as a means of building their relationship with their manager, but they are looking for clarity on what is expected of them and how to work effectively in a new environment. Asking questions can reduce confidence, as they are made painfully aware of what they don’t know.
• Underperformers need to understand and accept what is expected of them before coaching will give a return. Coaching when the need is for performance management rarely succeeds.
• Skilled team members who are clearly engaged with their job may see coaching as a suggestion of deficiency or a means of reducing their autonomy.

Who to coach

The return on investment (ROI) for a manager who coaches is greatest when the individual can call on skills and experience but lacks motivation or confidence. Coaching then becomes a powerful means of helping them to challenge their self-limitations, and to transfer experience from a past situation to a new one. It builds both the belief of the individual that they can do more, and releases the energy to be able to do so.

A manager should regularly take stock of their team against these parameters to target their coaching and to ensure they get a better ROI in terms of time. The motivation to become an even better coach will also increase.

Carole Pemberton is founder of Coaching to Solutions and author of Coaching to Solutions: A Manager’s Toolkit for Performance Delivery (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006).
carole.pemberton@career-matters.com, www.coachingtosolutions.com

Volume 3, Issue 5

These are among the many challenging scenarios an internal coach is likely to face. The nature of the relationship dictates that the coach will get a strong sense of the client’s competence and potential and may be tempted to try to recruit them to their own business area. In one organisation I worked with this became such an issue that some managers refused to have one coach take on assignments from their departments.

Face the facts!

All coaches will face ethical dilemmas at some time in their career and the codes of ethics developed by professional coaching bodies may not capture the unique issues faced by internal coaches. Professional coaching associations have published codes of ethics that their members agree to adhere to, and although the wording is different in each, the main thrust is similar: competence, integrity, professionalism and professional conduct.

The European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) code of ethics gives specific examples under the heading of professionalism. Of the other codes, most make broad statements under similar headings but without specific examples. All codes of ethics need to account for the coach’s competence, the context in which they operate, the boundaries of the relationship and their integrity and professional conduct (see panel, Five Steps to a Code of Ethics). But there are a number of issues important to the internal coach, mostly relating to the unique operating environment in which they practise and the complex set of relationships they are likely to be involved in.

Organisations need to make sure they develop an appropriate code of ethics, helping internal coaches to manage the boundaries within the organisational context, maintain integrity, know what is expected in terms of professional conduct and competence and make the implicit explicit. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) requires all its coaches to sign up to an ethical code adapted from that of the EMCC. RCN organisational development manager Julie Carrington says: “We spend time exploring this on the coaches’ training programme and revisit this during continuous professional development (CPD) days. We also share this with the clients.”

The multi-party contract (adapted from Hay, 1992) above illustrates the challenges of managing the internal coach’s conscious boundaries: between themselves, the client, the client’s line manager, the coaching champion and the organisation in relation to the coaching contract. All parties to this complex contract have an interlocking set of relationships with differing roles and responsibilities (see “Contractual obligations”). The coach may also have another role in the organisation at managerial or professional level.

Holding two roles within the organisation has the potential for conflict if the coach is not fully aware of which domain they are operating in at any given time. There may be times when they have to step out of the coaching role and into one of the other domains. For example, if a client is determined to take an unacceptable course of action, it would be appropriate to press the “pause” button on the coaching session, alert the organisation and step into the role of manager or other professional. This is crucial to preserving the boundaries of the relationship.

Don’t tell anyone, but…

Confidentiality is paramount to the coaching alliance. There are, of course, caveats to this and these should be spelt out in the coaching contract. The diversity and complexity of organisational relationships means there is a greater opportunity for internal coaches to become engaged in casual conversations with peers and bosses.

One potential outcome is that they may unconsciously pass on information about a client to the organisation, breaching the contract for confidentiality. For example, when two colleagues are discussing a third person for promotion, one of them may make a comment about their capability based on knowledge gained through a coaching relationship.

How to behave

There are a number of issues that may arise regarding professional conduct. Goals and targets are often integrated across departments and the coach must be alert to the potential for compromising the client’s success in order to maximise their own. An example might be when there is a bidding war for budget or resources between the coach’s and client’s departments.

There are complex relationships within any organisation that are not always evident to those involved in matching clients and coaches. The coach must be ready to recognise potential conflicts of interest and decline to take on a client where they exist. It may be that a coach finds themselves in competition with the client for promotion. As soon as this comes to their attention, they should declare the conflict of interest and make arrangements for the client to work with someone else.

Where an internal coach decides to establish an external coaching practice in their own time, the organisation should declare its needs and expectations. The very least they should expect is notification from the coach of the intention and a commitment that they will not use organisational resources to set up and maintain the external practice. In addition, the organisation is likely to want a commitment that the coach will not attempt to recruit clients from within the private practice.

The organisation must also consider what provision it will make for CPD for internal coaches. This should include supervision by a suitably qualified professional. Supervision will offer the coach:

• an opportunity to review their strengths and weaknesses and judge their limitations with regard to the work they are undertaking;
• space to reflect on their work and gain insights to support improved interventions;
• professional protection by having a more experienced coach offering support and advice on areas of concern.

Many assume that much of this is implicit in the contract an organisation has with its internal coach. But that may not be the case. To protect the coach, the client and the organisation, it is important to make the implicit explicit. Coaches need to have their roles and responsibilities defined, preferably linked to corporate values and policies on development, dignity and so on. It would add even greater clarity to have a clearly defined and articulated code of ethics that sets the professional parameters within which the coach is expected to practise.

Watch this space!

What I have tried to do here is not to define what a code of ethics should contain, but to offer a prompt for coaching champions to consider what should be explicit in the relationship between the internal coach and the organisation and what is expected in terms of ethical behaviour. What is important is that a well thought-out code exists within the organisation and that internal coaches understand it and agree to abide by it.

Where an organisation chooses to develop such a code, it should also develop a procedure for dealing with ethical complaints that protects the coach, the client and the company. Ideally, it should sit outside of the normal grievance or disciplinary procedures. This will keep ethical complaints relating to the coaching relationship outside of standard procedures that might lead to predetermined disciplinary action or termination of employment.

Five steps to a code of ethics

The following are examples of statements worthy of inclusion in a code of ethics for internal coaches in addition to the standard statements included in the codes developed by the professional associations. The internal coach will:

Competence

• Attend and graduate from the organisation’s coach training programme.
• Engage in appropriate continuous professional development and complete annual CPD logs.
• Engage in coaching supervision with a suitably qualified supervisor, designated by the organisation and bound by confidentiality, who will regularly assess their competence and support their development. Internal coaches are expected to have one hour of supervision for every 10 hours of coaching.

Context

• Ensure that the coaching agenda is focused on agreed goals and maintained within the organisational context.
• Boundaries
• Be fully aware of the multi-party nature of the coaching relationship and take responsibility for maintaining equal psychological distance with all parties.
• Operate within the limits of their own competence. Where necessary the internal coach will refer the client to the OD manager (or HR manager if appropriate) for referral to a more experienced coach or another professional, such as a counsellor, psychotherapist or business/financial adviser.
• Be aware of, and deal with, the potential for conflicts of interest of either a professional or emotional nature arising through the coaching relationship.
• Manage the boundaries between their professional role in the organisation and the assignments they take on as an internal coach.

Integrity

• Maintain the level of confidentiality agreed by all parties at the start.
• Disclose information only where explicitly agreed with the client and sponsor, unless the internal coach believes there is convincing evidence of serious danger to the client, others or the organisation.
• Act within applicable law and organisational rules and regulations and not encourage, assist or collude with others engaged in conduct that is dishonest, unlawful, unprofessional or discriminatory.

Professional conduct

• Not compromise the client’s success in order to maximise their own.
• Never try to recruit the client to their own business area.
• Not take on a client where there is a potential conflict of interest.
• Declare any personal interest where they are a competitor of the client for progression, in such cases they should request that the client be given another coach.
• Advise the organisation if they intend to offer professional coaching services in their own time. They should not use company premises and resources for this.
• Never seek to recruit private coaching clients from within the organisation.

Further info

• Sandra Wilson is a director of the International Centre for Business Coaching. She works nationally and internationally as a coach, coach supervisor and coach trainer. She has developed a code of ethics and ethical complaints procedure for a number of organisations in the UK.
• J Hay, Transactional Analysis for Trainers, Sherwood Publishing, 1992.

Volume 3, Issue 3